Managing rapport through persuasion: A multi-level analysis of COVID-19 in Chinese celebrity Weibo posts.

This article examines how Chinese celebrities use persuasive communication on the social media platform Weibo to manage rapport with the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing 500 COVID-19-related posts from 100 highly followed celebrities, the study identifies persuasive strategies at lexical (e.g., engagement markers and boosters), syntactic (e.g., parallelism and rhetorical questions), and discursive levels (e.g., war metaphors and humor) that celebrities employ to reassure audiences, foster solidarity, and encourage collective action. The findings highlight the culturally influenced emphasis on collective identity and positive framing in Chinese celebrity discourse, suggesting that such persuasive communication plays a significant role in shaping public attitudes, reducing panic, and maintaining social stability during the crisis. The study contributes to understanding persuasion and rapport management in celebrity social media discourse, while noting limitations related to sample size and authorship authenticity.